Winward Circle
by meredith.mckay93
Summary: After the events of A Year in the Life, Rory tries to navigate her new role and to find a life that will make her happy. Sometimes, life can be circular, but all it takes are the people who love you to break the bad patterns. ::SPOILER ALERT::
1. Chapter 1

_(Author's Note: This is my first Fan Fiction in about 12 years, so please forgive me. Obviously, I watched Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and saw the opportunity for a continued story. I am continuing the story, but I want to see the feedback before I upload any more. Please review! Also, please do not read this if you haven't seen AYITL, there are major spoilers)_

 _"Mom?"_

 _"Yeah?"_

 _"I'm Pregnant."_

 _..._

Lorelai's mouth was still wide open, the look on her face was indiscernible. Rory couldn't tell if her mom was disappointed, angry, or happy. The one thing that Rory knew was that her mom was shocked. That was understandable, Rory was shocked.

This wasn't how she wanted her life to go. She had wanted to be Christian Amanpour for gods sake. She wanted to be a foreign correspondent, to travel the world, to have every adventure that her mother was not able to have. However, that life had never truly worked for her. She spent most of her time between London, New York, and Stars Hollow. Despite how much she had fought against it, Rory would forever be a Stars Hollow girl. The suggestion by Jess to write their story was the best idea, as it combined what she loved with what she knew that worked. Rory still didn't know if her book would be well received, but she knew that she had to write it. She just wished she knew what the future held for her and the tiny human that was growing in her uterus.

"Mom?" Rory said meekly. The silence was killing her, and her eyes began to water.

"I..." Lorelai paused and took a drink of her champagne. Her hands were shaking, and Lorelai was desperately trying not to spill the precious drink on her gorgeous dress. This was news, but this was her daughter, her life's blood. So, even though she still didn't think that she had the right words, she said the first ones that came out of her mouth, "Well... I guess that you're too old to be called Juno."

Rory laughed. It was so perfect, so Lorelai. "I can guarantee you that the father's name is not Bleecker."

"But we at least know that he had a pork sword," Lorelai giggled. Rory started to laugh maniacally, and Lorelai joined in. They laughed for a good five minutes until their stomachs began to ache, so they tried to force themselves to calm down. Then the champagne glass broke, which sent them into a new fit of giggles. After the events of this year, this was the culmination of everything. Of all the pain, ridiculous job searches, and fights, this was what happened. It all seemed so funny at that moment

Finally, they both calmed down and looked at each other. It suddenly didn't seem so funny anymore. Lorelai's face suddenly looked all of her 47 years, the lines were deeper despite the new glow of being married and the red cheeks from the champagne and the cold. Rory's face looked extremely pale, her eyes larger than they had ever been, and the large sweater looked like it was threatening to swallow her whole.

"So..." Lorelai cautioned, "Coffee?"

"Should I drink..." Rory tried to answer.

"Coffee." Lorelai replied. It was the only word that she could say at the moment, and she needed to figure out what to say next. Coffee made everything clear, especially after the whole bottle of champagne that she had to drink.

"Mom..." Rory tried to talk to her mother as she began to walk rapidly in front of her, her heels clicking as they hit the pavement in the town square. Rory tried to catch up, but her mom had a single minded goal to get some coffee, so she gave up trying to. Her feet slowed to a normal pace, as she knew where she was following her mother to. Luke had taken the day off so that he could get ready for the wedding, and it was probably best that they were not in public for the conversation they were about to have. They had to go home. To the Crap Shack.

…

Lorelai wished that the Independence Inn was still standing. She hadn't wished that in years, since the big fire that spurred her and Sookie into starting the Dragonfly. However, she wished that she had the little shack to have this discussion in. It only seemed right for a story that had come full circle to go back to where it all started.

Kirk was still in the house when she burst in. Luke was upstairs taking a nap, but she knew that he would not be an issue. Luke was not one to spread information. Kirk was another issue though, but Lorelai felt horrible for having to kick him out of the house after the hard work he had put into the town square, and how beautiful her second wedding was going to be because of him. This was another reason that she wished that the shack was still available, for something that had complete solitude. She was ecstatic that she had finally been able to marry Luke, but at that moment she longed for the old days when it was just her and Rory, and Lorelai had all of the hope in the world for her little girl.

Lorelai stormed into the house and made a sharp left turn into the living room. Kirk was laying on the couch, snuggling with a sleeping Petal. She walked over and gently shook him. "Hey, Kirk, it's morning. You might want to go home and get ready for the wedding."

Groggily, Kirk slightly opened his eyes and looked up, "I guess... You liked what I did in the square? I thought I had ruined everything..."

"It was perfect, Kirk," she smiled at him like she would smile at a groggy five-year-old, "I just need to get ready for the wedding and have some girl time with Rory."

"Oh, okay. As long as I didn't ruin anything." He picked up Petal and her milk bottle.

"You did well, Kirk. Like a regular Jennifer Lopez."

"Huh?"

"Wedding Planner... Nevermind, Kirk. I'll see you at the wedding later today." Lorelai followed him to the door and closed it. She then trudged over to the kitchen and went through the familiar motions of making coffee. She put the filter in, then she poured the usual ungodly amount of coffee into the waiting filter. Next, she walked over to the sink and filled the pot with water. She poured the water into the coffee maker and pressed the button to start the steeping of the precious liquid. This was the best routine, the routine that grounded her the most. Once the scent wafted from the dripping liquid, Lorelai closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then the door opened, and Lorelai could hear Rory slowly step into the foyer.

"Mom?"

"I'm in here, kid." Lorelai drew her eyes open, like curtains before the opening of a big show. Rory's light footsteps came closer until she entered the kitchen. Rory began to grab coffee cups, cream, and sugar. She also grabbed some Poptarts. It was all so familiar, yet such strange territory to be in. Once the coffee was ready, they sat down and began to mix their brews; the cream and sugar would make it easier to gulp down.

"So..." Lorelai began, but she couldn't seem to ask the obvious questions that were on the tip of her tongue. The tongue that normally could spin words like Rumplestiltskin with straw.

"It's Logan's." Rory answered the first question in Lorelai's mind.

"How?"

Rory smiled a little bit. "Do I need to explain the birds and the bees to you?"

Lorelai smirked, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Rory..."

"It was about 4-5 weeks ago. Logan, Colin, Finn, and Robert came and gave me a perfect night. We had kind of this Animal House thing with the town, some weird steampunk clothing, a tango club, and a bed and breakfast..."

"Wait, was this the same night before Taylor went into Doose's and found a large amount of cash and some missing products?"

"Yeah," Rory laughed, "How did you know?"

"News can travel coast to coast. Stars Hollow gossip is as good as the transatlantic Railroad." Lorelai laughed as well. At least something entertaining happened. Maybe they would include it in the musical.

Rory continued, "Well, he offered me the keys to his family's place in Maine that his father bought to spite Martha Stewart. Colin bought the tango club. Then we went back to the bed and breakfast, and Logan and I... we Cinemaxed at night... The next morning, I gave him the key back and said goodbye, for good."

"And you haven't had any contact with him since?"

"No," Rory looked down at her coffee, trying not to let the tear drop into her full cup, "I wanted to have a clean break with him. Then I took the test a couple of days ago. I actually went to go see dad the day after the test came back positive."

Lorelai was shocked, "You saw Christopher? What did he say?"

"Oh, he doesn't know," Rory reassured her mother, "I had originally made the meeting with him to discuss the book and see if I could include him in it. I asked him if he was alright with you raising me alone, and he said that's how it was meant to be, and that you would agree with him in that respect."

"I guess I would say that," Lorelai started, cautiously, "but, I would have welcomed him in our lives if he wanted to be, and if he was mature enough at the time to handle the responsibility. He was kind of Peter Pan for a while."

"He admitted that, Mom. Dad understands that he could have tried, but as you know, we've always felt distant from him. He could never be there for us in the way that we wanted him to be."

"Are you going to tell Logan?"

"I... I don't think so, Mom." The tears that had previously been threatening to fall out of her eyes began to make tiny splashes in the brown liquid. "He's getting married to Odette, and he made it abundantly clear that he was going to do that. He still wanted me on the side, though. That's why he offered the house to me, and I needed to get away from the control of his family. Even Mitchum had to get me that meeting with Conde Nast after they kept postponing it."

"I've never liked that family. They never thought that you were good enough. Apparently, despite Logan's insistence nine years ago that he wanted to be his own person, he kept riding on his daddy's coattails."

"Mommy..." Rory was crying even harder. Lorelai's face softened and she dragged her chair around to Rory's side of the table. Lorelai sat down, and gathered Rory to her shoulder. Sometimes, no matter how old you are, you need hugs from your mother.

"It's okay, Rory," Lorelai said as she stroked her hair, "If he wants to be with someone who can only become a woman by the light of the moon, he's not worth it."

Rory laughed. It was a muffled laugh, both by the tears and by her mother's shoulder. Somehow, Lorelai always knew what to say. It didn't fix everything, but somehow the visual, and the fact that she had the strongest woman she knew holding her, it helped to bring Rory back.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Mom. I'm so excited for this book, for the possibilities of it. I'm finally passionate about something, after the longest time of feeling lost. I still have no job, besides working at the Gazette, which pays nothing, and there's so much to prepare for." Rory's tears turned to panic, "What the hell am I going to do?"

A small, true smile started to form on Lorelai's lips and her eyes. The lines on her face seemed less pronounced, and her face started to lighten and resemble what it looked like last night, when everything finally seemed...right. "You're keeping it?"

"Yes," Rory still hadn't looked at her mom's face, "I don't want you to be disappointed in me, but the minute I saw that test say that I was pregnant, that I didn't have the beginnings of some crazy sort of flu that I had hoped it would be, I knew that I wanted it. I wanted what was growing inside me more than anything, even more than this book."

"First of all, I'm not disappointed in you. Hey, at least you waited 16 more years than I did." Rory laughed again, though the sound was muffled. "Second, you can still accomplish what you want to accomplish. I did. It took a while, for me, but you still have a good eight to nine months to finish your book. You can find a job, you always have options. I found one at 16, you can find one at 32." Lorelai lifted Rory's head to look at her face, "You can do this. You are my daughter, and I raised you to be strong and capable, and to have really good shopping and eating skills," Lorelai paused and wiped a tear from Rory's face that was still lingering in her eyes. "You have a whole town, and more, who are more than happy to support you, and you have me. You always have me, kid."

"I know I have you mom. I always have."

"Plus, this is kind of exciting, I get to be a Glam-ma. I didn't think it would happen so soon, but I'm nothing if not flexible."

Rory raised her eyebrow, "What is a Glam-ma?"

Lorelai leaned back and took a sip of her coffee, "I'm way too young and glamorous to be a Grandma, as you well know, so I'm a Glam-ma."

"There is no way that I'm having this kid call you Glam-ma."

"You will. I will make them have a town meeting and vote it into Stars Hollow law. There can even be a festival for me."

"You're nuts," Rory shook her head, "I'm just glad you're happy about this."

"To be honest, I didn't know how to feel at first," Lorelai took another sip of her coffee, "I wanted so much more for you than I ever had, and trust me, I wanted you happy and more stable before you ever thought about having children. I guess you're more like me than I thought, which means that you can do this. You can do anything that you put your mind to, especially since you have more support than I ever did. And you want this baby. I know how it feels to pee on that stick and immediately fall in love with what it represents."

"It's so strange," Rory finally took a sip of her tepid brew, "I never wanted kids-"

"I distinctly remember a time when you didn't want to see what was 'coming around the mountain' with Sookie."

"-But when I saw the strip, I didn't even have to do one of my pro/con lists."

"Oh, yes, your pro/con lists," Lorelai smirked, "I haven't seen one of those in a while."

"How are we going to tell everyone?"

Lorelai paused. She, despite initial reservation, was able to come around to the idea, but she didn't know how quickly others would accept it. "We can tell Luke tomorrow, after the wedding. There's a lot going on today. As for your grandmother..." Lorelai took a large gulp of her liquid to try to think more clearly, "We can arrange a dinner later this week. She's mellowed, a lot, but it still might be better to tell her with less people around."

"What about everybody else?" Rory's hand moved to cover her flat abdomen, "When is best? What do I say?"

"That's up to you, kid. You know how fast news travels in this town, and you know how people latch onto every clue they see. It's Stars Hollow, we have a better rumor mill than the Enquirer."

"Alright..." Rory rubbed her stomach again, still unsure. She was always the darling of the town, and she didn't know how they would take the news. Hopefully everybody would be supportive, as they had always been with Lorelai. If she knew this town well enough, which she believed she did, they would be, but Rory would probably have to pre-empt the rumor mill before the gossip became too ridiculous.

"Look," Lorelai put down her now empty cup, "Let's go take a nap. I need my energy for this Fall extravaganza of a wedding, and if I remember the first trimester correctly, you just need rest in general. The little parasites take everything out of you in the first three months."

"Thank you, mom." Rory wrapped her hands around her mother and gave her a large embrace, "I think that might be best for now."

Lorelai squeezed her child back, "Come on, Mommie Dearest, let's go get some beauty sleep. Not that we need to be more beautiful, of course. That wouldn't be fair to others."

"Oh god," Rory covered her mouth and started running towards the stairs.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To throw up first!" Rory yelled as she ascended, trying to hold everything back before she got to her destination.

"Why not the downstairs bathroom?"

"It's bad on my knees!"


	2. Chapter 2

( _A/N: Hey guys! I hope you're liking the story. If so, please let me know. If not, let me know. I apologize for how long it took for the second chapter! Graduate school finals and my son was sick... Anyways, I hope this chapter is as fun to read as it was to write.)_

The second wedding was beautiful, if not a little hectic. The decorations, including the tea cups, the various types of hats, and the twinkle lights were perfect, especially for Lorelai. It portrayed a sense of Wonderland whimsy that seemed fitting for the dream of Lorelai finally marrying her soulmate, Luke. What made it even better was the fact that they held it during the first day of the Harvest Festival, where the town that had nurtured Lorelai and Rory for 31 years was able to take part in the festivities. Taylor was flitting around the event, barking orders at everybody. Patty was in the corner, giving a last minute pep talk to the members of her dance class for, presumably, the second flash mob. The first one had happened right before Lorelai's walk down the aisle, with Lorelai grinning like a mad woman, and Luke shaking his head and smiling. Kirk had decided to become the DJ for yet another town party, although thankfully he left his "Olde English" at home for the night. That was probably for the best.

Rory shook her Old-Fashioned glass and watched the liquid move as the melting ice clinked against the sides. Lorelai and Rory had come up with a plan to hide the pregnancy from the town until she was ready to tell them, and it was a rather ingenious idea. Lorelai had informed the bartenders beforehand that Rory was pregnant, that it was very hush-hush, and that they were to give her sweetened ice tea with an orange peel, to mimic an actual Old-fashioned cocktail. Lorelai actually seemed to be a little too into the bit, winking at Rory every time that she received a new drink.

"Hey!" her mother waltzed over in her gorgeous dress. It was an A-line dress with a lace half-coat on the top to cover the fact that the dress was sleeveless. The skirt of the dress was covered in lacy snowflakes that "fell" down to the bottom. "So, are you liking your drink shaken, not stirred?" Lorelai gave Rory a large goofy grin and sipped her fully alcoholic martini.

"You're really having fun with this, aren't you?" Rory gave her mother a slightly annoyed look, "You do know that if you continue being this obvious, people are going to start to ask questions, right?"

Lorelai plopped down into her throne, which was only right for a queen of the town such as herself, "Oh come on, I love this Cloak and Dagger stuff. Plus, I promised that I would get twice as drunk as normal so that nobody would notice you."

"Mom, Cloak and Dagger only works if you're subtle," Rory's head went to her hands as she tried to rub her temples. Maybe she should have established more ground rules for her mother before the wedding, "And don't you dare drink any of that punch that I saw Ms. Patty sneak in here. You'll be on the floor puking in no time, and that is not the right look for a bride."

"We would match though! Although sharing the upstairs bathroom might be a little difficult. I guess I could take the downstairs, just for you my darling loin fruit." Rory sighed and looked up to her mother. The expression was more than a little annoyed at this point, so Lorelai sobered up as much as she could with the martinis coursing through her body, "Okay, I'll be subtler. How are you feeling?"

"Just call me Regan… The food looked great, but I couldn't eat anything. I guess I lost the Gilmore instinct."

"Oh kid," Lorelai wrapped her arm around her daughter, "It gets better. Trust me," Rory smiled, and Lorelai continued, "Then it gets worse, and then it gets better, and then it gets worse and worse until the finale of doing splits over dynamite. Then it gets better, until you realize that you're in charge of another human being for at least 18 years."

Rory groaned and took another sip of her mocktail, "Thanks, mom, you're always such a big help..." She gave her mother a pointed look.

"Just try to eat something. You can't go all Kate Moss right now."

Rory thought that maybe she would try to research some ways to get rid of her nausea. There had to be something that she could use, otherwise she felt like she would start to resent this child before it was even born. She took a sip of the water next to her mocktail, and then Luke came up. "Hey, how are you doing?"

Rory forced a smile onto her face. She was happy for them, but it was hard to think over the noise of her brain telling her to not throw up, and her stomach screaming that it would do what it wanted, despite what the brain said. "I'm great. The wedding turned out so beautifully, and you didn't seem that annoyed when the flash mob started during the processional."

"I guess there's nothing to be grumpy about today," Luke beamed.

"Aw, Luke," Jess sauntered up in his suit, the dark gray clothing fitted almost perfectly to his body. The arms were slightly too tight around his biceps, but the tailor had clearly been able to highlight every asset. Even the simple color of the suit combined with the black tie and white shirt emphasized how handsome he was, as anything more ostentatious would have distracted from him. The only thing that did not seem to fit the dignified look was his hair, which was now down to his shoulders, and the budding beard on his face. "So marriage is already softening you, huh?"

Luke growled, "I guess there's one thing..."

Jess smirked, "You know I love you, man." He turned to Lorelai, "Congratulations, again. You looked beautiful. Although, why did you wear a dress with snowflakes on it?"

Lorelai looked shocked, "You noticed? Luke said that no man would notice!"

"Hey, I did say that you look beautiful, as always," Luke stated, defensively.

"Yeah, yeah," Lorelai grinned, "You say that all the time, but now that I'm your wife, I get to nag you about noticing tiny details."

"I can't win..." Luke walked over to his chair and took a large gulp of his beer.

"Anyways, Jess, I know we had this wedding in November, but just in case it didn't snow, I still wanted it with me. It makes everything more natural."

"Of course," Jess smiled, and then winked at Rory, who then smiled. She knew that Jess did not believe in the magic of snow, but he had matured enough to be respectful to Lorelai's strange personality. However, it was beyond that. Once Jess had grown up past his teenage need to be a rebel, his sarcastic humor had made him fit in with the family. It was kind of nice to see.

"If mom could have pulled a Sybil Trelawney and prophesied the first snow of this year, I bet she would have."

"To be fair, Trelawney only had two successful prophecies." Jess pointed out.

"I'm so much better than her! I can usually smell the snow, so that makes me better!" Lorelai beamed and took another sip of her martini, "Where's my mother?"

Rory pointed to the other side of the gazebo, "She's over there talking to Ms. Patty."

"Really?!" Lorelai was shocked. Sure, Ms. Patty and her mother had some interaction, including at Emily's "bachelorette" party before her second wedding, and Emily had changed in the past year, but it still seemed strange to see her mother integrating with her Stars Hollow family. "Mom!"

Emily's head turned and her older, yet still lovely, face scrunched in disapproval. She held up a finger and turned back to Ms. Patty to presumably politely extricate herself from the conversation. She then walked over. Her perfectly brown pumps matched the belt that connected the floor length brown skirt and lacy, long-sleeved beige top. "Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, I know that this is your wedding day, but that is no excuse to rudely yell across your own dance floor."

"Sorry, mom." Obviously not everything about her mother had changed. It was nice to know that some things would stay consistent despite recent revelations. "What were you talking to Ms. Patty about?"

"Oh, that woman is so fascinating," Emily sighed, "Did you know that she tried to audition for A Chorus Line? She didn't get in, but she has this amazing story about how the producers of a traveling show picked her out of the line of dancers and she was able to tour with them. You know, I've always loved dancing."

"I remember, as evidenced by a marathon of ballroom dancing videos that you had Rory sit through."

Emily gave Lorelai a warning look as the latter took another sip of her martini.

"Grandma, I actually wanted to speak with you," Rory started. "Are you free sometime this week?"

"Of course, Rory. I'm rather free now that I moved to Nantucket. I do have some volunteer work in the mornings at the Whaling Museum. When are you free?"

"I could possibly come by next weekend." Rory looked slightly puzzled, "You work at the Whaling Museum?"

"Yes, I find the history to be quite engaging," Emily's face brightened. "It's also very titillating to tell the children about how the whales were hunted."

"Paging Captain Ahab," said Lorelai. "Isn't that a little dark for kids, though?"

"I think it's great that you're going all Melville, Grandma, although I do have to echo the darkness comment."

"It's their parents faults for letting them go to the museum. I merely inform them of the facts." Emily looked primly at her daughter and granddaughter. "Hello, Luke. You're looking very quiet over there. Who is this young man standing next to you?"

"Hello Mrs. Gilmore," Jess held out his hand to the older woman. "We actually met before. My name is Jess Mariano."

"Who?" Emily looked at him as if he was a foreign object. She did not recognize this young man, but she did approve of his suit.

"Jess Mariano, ma'am. I used to date Rory back in high school, and I came to your house one night for dinner with a black eye..." Jess felt uncomfortable, and he looked over at Rory, who, despite being visibly green, was trying not to laugh.

"Oh, you're that hoodlum." Emily narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "You were very rude that night, young man."

"I apologize ma'am. I had actually been struck by a swan that day." Emily's eyebrow raised, and Lorelai and Rory started giggling. Jess looked straight into Emily's eyes, "I was a completely horrible teenager, Mrs. Gilmore, but I promise that I have changed."

Emily's eyebrow was still raised, but Rory jumped in to defend Jess. "It's true, Grandma, he works at a publishing house in Philadelphia. He even wrote a book."

"Is this true?" Emily's arms were now crossed over her chest.

Jess was starting to feel intimidated. Emily Gilmore was small in stature, but her presence was overwhelming, and Jess felt like he was starting to sweat. It was like being in one of those cheesy cop movies with the extremely hot interrogation lights. "I wrote a book called The Subsect. I also publish with a few other people, but mostly small prints and a very limited distribution."

"Send me the book."

"Excuse me?" Jess was genuinely confused. Why would Emily want a copy of his book?

"I said," Emily stepped closer to Jess, "send me the book. You say that you've changed, and I would like to see evidence of this."

"I... Um..." Jess was practically speechless. He had no idea why he had to prove himself to this woman. Thankfully, Rory jumped in to save him, like his very own Ben Randall.

"Grandma, I have the book. I can bring it to you when I come over next weekend." Rory smiled at Jess, as she found the fact that he was squirming extremely entertaining, and it was momentarily distracting her from her nausea. "I can also bring _Trumpet of the Swan_ for context."

Lorelai and Rory started to laugh at Jess's face, which had taken on a surly quality. It reminded them both of when he was a punk kid in high school. Luke smirked behind his pint glass, and even a shadow of a mischievous smile fell onto Emily Gilmore's lips.

"Wonderful," the smirk grew larger. They all started to wonder if this was the type of sick satisfaction that Emily took in detailing whale murder to tiny children. "Lorelai, would you like to come with me to freshen up our drinks?"

"I definitely would, mom." Lorelai downed the last of her martini and walked with Emily. It was nice to see them actually getting along, even if Emily hadn't changed a lot. She still had that malicious side, but now it felt more good natured. Lorelai was able to talk to her mother on a basic human level that had seemed impossible before.

Luke took another sip of his beer and then set it down on the bridal table. "I should probably get going. I have to talk to Patty and see if her and the girls are ready for my flash mob." Luke slapped Jess on the shoulder and smirked at his still shocked face, "It gets better. Just be grateful that you don't have to be around her." He walked off towards Miss Patty and the rehearsing girls.

"Don't worry, it gets better, until the nausea hits." Rory clutched her stomach as she said the last word. It was like a magic David Copperfield word that snapped the participants out of their fantasies.

"I don't understand why she needed to grill me like that." Jess shuddered, "I'm normally so cool and collected, and yet she made me feel like one of those Abu Grhaib prisoners..."

"My mom calls that being 'Gilmored'." Rory smiled at him, with the shaking and the disbelief, he looked much younger than his 32 years. He had always been so cool, but it was almost satisfying to see him shake in his suit.

Just then, the music to Karma Chameleon came faintly out of the speakers. Dozens of little girls in plaid shirts, leather jackets, and sunglasses started to come out from around the square, inviting others to dance with them. Obviously they had not had time to change outfits for the new flash mob song. From across the square, Rory and Jess could hear Luke bellow Lorelai's name and Lorelai's cackling response.

"You know," Rory mused as she saw Luke seethe next to a beaming Lorelai as little girls and townies danced, "their outfits look like you and Luke when you were in high school."

"To be fair, Luke still dresses like that. I think that he will perpetually be the Brawny paper towel man. I, however, am still trying to forget how much mousse I used to use back then." Rory grabbed her stomach again. She tried to be subtle about the action, but it was difficult to be so when she felt like Mount Vesuvius. Jess looked at her, his face contorting into something like concern, "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." Rory scrambled to find an excuse for her behavior, "I must have just had too much to drink."

"Let's get out of here. I know that we're already outside, so the fresh air excuse doesn't work, but maybe walking could help."

The last thing that Rory wanted to do was jostle her sensitive stomach any more, but it was probably better than sitting in her chair and waiting for more townspeople to notice her anguish. She, not thinking, handed the glass to Jess as she stood up and tried not to call any more attention to her nausea. "So, where are we going, Dodger?"

"You'll see." Jess put the glass on the table, and noticed that the glass did not have a smell of alcohol. He figured that it had just been diluted, and he placed it on the table and turned towards Rory. "Follow me."

Rory began to follow him, with the fading sounds of Karma Chameleon in the background. Rory was still trying to focus on not throwing up all over Stars Hollow, and getting a citation from Taylor. Jess was focused on finding the one place in Stars Hollow he had always liked. Both of them were on a strange autopilot as they walked together. After a couple of minutes, they arrived at their destination and she shook her head, "The bridge?"

"It seemed appropriate." Jess sat down and patted the space next to him, "Plus, I think the swan story about that swan kicking my ass made me think that this could be the perfect place."

Rory sat down and looked at him in amazement, "I can't believe that you remember this place. Do you remember how you came out here after the dance marathon?"

"Or that time that I beat Dean during the bid-a-basket festival?"

"I always knew that you did it on purpose."

"What else was I supposed to do? You were dating the Jolly Green Giant and I wanted some alone time with you. You could have said no."

Rory looked at Jess with disbelief, "No I couldn't! You kept talking about how those who bought the basket earned lunch with the basket maker. You know how I loved rules." Jess raised his eyebrow at her and leaned back. Rory rolled her eyes and laid back on the bridge, "Fine, I wanted to go with you and it was a perfect excuse. I just didn't want Dean to be mad at me." Rory sighed and put her hands on her stomach. Her nausea was starting to dissipate, and she felt calm. There was something calming about the place and the present company. "I do miss those days, though."

Jess glanced over at her. She looked beautiful in her long, flowing, burgundy dress. With her legs over the bridge, the gauzy fabric almost touched the surface of the water. Her face still looked so much like it did when she was a teenager, just a little more mature. She wore slightly more makeup than she did when she was younger, but overall she seemed to let her natural beauty show. What Jess could see the most in her beautiful face, though, was exhaustion. He cleared his throat to try to break the silence. "Are you writing a lot about the past in your book?"

"I think so. I think it would be best if I started in high school and continued forward until today. Do you mind if I write about you?"

"I guess," Jess pondered, "but I was kind of a douche back then. I'll make you a deal, you can be honest about me, if I get to read your book after it's done."

"Hey, no fair! I need to have accurate portrayals, and you were a big part of my life." Besides that, Rory was not so sure that she wanted Jess reading about everything that had happened in her life. It felt like ever since she had slept with Dean, she had been making horrible decisions. Especially after she graduated from college, she had been so aimless. This aimlessness had concluded in her having another affair with an ex-boyfriend and becoming pregnant with his lovechild.

"Fine, but I can still buy it after you publish it. I let you read my book."

"I guess..." Rory closed her eyes.

"What, are you embarassed? Your life can't be more storied than Hemingway's."

"You and your damn Hemingway obsession."

"Seriously, are you embarassed?" Jess looked at her resting figure, "You told me that you didn't have any underwear. Which, by the way, I hope you finally rectified." Rory stayed silent and tried to breathe. The nausea had returned. "Rory... Look, you can always talk to me."

"I've become a horrible person."

"I'm sure that's not true."

Rory sat up, despite her stomach's objections. She had to look him in the eyes. "I have. You don't understand, Jess. You knew me mostly during a time when I was a fairly nice person. I know you saw me during that time when I took time away from Yale, which wasn't a proud moment." She closed her eyes again to gather her thoughts and then focused her eyes on his again, "Even that time when I kissed you and told you that I was still in love with Logan pales in comparison to a lot of the bad choices that I have made. I'm just now finding a few things that have meaning in my life, and it's hard to remember everything."

"Then why are you writing your book?"

"I think it's a great story, and the first years are so easy to write about. It's just... hard."

"Look, you don't have to tell me, and I know that we aren't that close, but I'm here for you." Jess sat up and looked her earnestly in the eyes, "Trust me, I'm not as big of a jerk as I was back in high school."

"I know. I'm the jerk now." Rory looked at Jess and felt a jolt of... something. Possibly guilt, or a connection of some sort. She couldn't place it. However, at that exact moment, she felt a familiar sensation and stood up faster than any girl who never exercised had a right to do. Maybe the tap dancing had prepared her for this. She ran as fast as she could to the end of the bridge, found the nearest bush, and started to vomit.

"Rory, are you alright?" Jess jogged over to where she was and pulled her hair back with his hands. He was trying not to vomit himself. "God, it's like that Meaning of Life scene. How much did you have to drink?" The strange thing was that Jess didn't think she was that drunk. Maybe she was just really good at hiding it.

Rory sat up, found a leaf, and wiped her mouth with it. "Oh yeah, I guess that I must have had more than I thought. Maybe I should go home."

Jess helped her up. "Let me come with you. I know that Luke and Lorelai will be at the wedding for a while, and we can grab some food that will help to settle your stomach. We can even watch any movie that you would like."

"Okay," Rory grabbed his arm, "Spaceballs it is."

"I get to choose the food." Jess began to lead Rory towards her house, "I promise you'll like it."

They walked comfortably together towards the Crapshack. Jess tried not to notice how natural it felt for Rory to have her arm in his. Rory was just grateful for someone to walk home with her.


End file.
